Harry Potter and the Founders Vault
Disclaimer: As usual, I'm not JK.
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The Ravenclaw Key
Neville, Hermione, Harry, and Harper were on the Seventh Floor in the left corridor. The tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls to dance was showing the man's vain attempt to get them to dance, only for him to get clubbed in the face. It distracted Neville for a moment until Harry spoke.
"Okay, it says to walk in front of the wall three times thinking 'I need to take on the Ravenclaw task'," Harry read from the Vault book. "Nice job unscrambling this."
"Trust me, it wasn't easy," Hermione said as she walked back and forth three times in front of the wall. To their surprise, a faint grinding of stone sounded as a door appeared in the wall, just as Hermione finished her third pass.
"Okay, that's cool," Neville said as Hermione went over and opened the door.
The four walked inside to see a large statue of an Eagle standing in the middle of what seemed to be an empty room. As the four entered, the door behind them closed and the eagle came to life – it was very much like when they went into the Gryffindor chamber for Harry's task.
"You wish to take on the task of Ravenclaw?" The eagle spoke.
"I do," Hermione said, taking a step towards it. This was her task to do, after all.
"If you fail your, friends' keys will be returned, along with the Vault book and you four will never be permitted to take these tasks again," the Eagle explained.
"We understand," the four said together, this clause having come with both the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff keys.
"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin representative may watch – from over there," the Eagle said, pointing a wing at a section to the side. The three nodded as they moved there. "You will be taking on the test of the intelligent, the smart, the logical – the Ravenclaw. You will need to complete four logic tests."
"Four," Hermione said with a nod and the room around them changed; Harry, Harper, and Neville's area morphed so they were in a viewing box. The room had changed though as it now looked like an ancient tomb. The Eagle was in front of one wall and on another two walls were different things – one looked like ancient runes, and another wall had simple geometric shapes on it.
"Solve the riddle of the ancient runes," the eagle stated, and then seemed to go lifeless.
"Okay, so we have a triangle, square, and circle over here," Hermione said, pointing at the wall with the shapes, talking aloud so her friends could hear here. "Which must be connected to these runes… What runes are they? They're not Egyptian. I think… they're Norse. I recognize this one as representing the Norse god Thor. We just did Norse Runes in our Ancient Runes class."
"That's a bit of a coincidence," Neville said to Harry and Harper. He wasn't in the class but Harry and Harper were.
"Not really, none of the tasks have been ones outside of being achievable to us," Harper reasoned. "This task might have been specifically picked because Hermione would have knowledge of Norse runes from class."
"They want to make it tricky, not impossible," Harry added.
"Norse Runes, Norse Runes, they were ideas… they later became letters," Hermione was saying more to herself. "And numbers. Three…?" Hermione pointed at one. "Fourteen…. Fifteen… nine…" Hermione pointed at each rune as she said it. "Three, fourteen, fifteen, nine…. Three one four one five nine." Hermione mumbled. "This sounds familiar. Three, one, four, one, five, nine… Three-point-one-four-one-five-nine…. It's Pi!"
"What type of pie?" Neville asked and Harry and Harper laughed at this.
"Not a pie to eat. She's talking about Pi, a mathematical number," Harry said.
"That's confusing," Neville said.
"P-I, not P-I-E," Harper added for Neville's confusion.
"But March 14 was always tasty in math class," Harry added, confusing Neville even more. "Never mind…"
"Pi…" Hermione turned to the wall with the shapes on it. "Pi is used to find the circumference of a circle. It measures the radius," Hermione walked over to the circle and put her hand on it. "The inside is soft… like sand." Hermione took her finger and traced from the middle to the edge of the circle.
With that, the room changed around them and now they seemed to be a normal Hogwarts-like room and there were 12 bells around them. The eagle was still there.
"You have completed the challenge of the runes. Now you have the bells. There must be four, rung in correct order, they can be rung twice – and do not forget the personal," the Eagle explained.
"What type of task is this?" Neville asked as Hermione looked over at the bells but Harper and Harry shrugged.
Hermione looked over the bells. "The symbols. They are astrology signs," Hermione said. "My mom loves astrology. In order the first four would be Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, and Taurus. But… Don't forget the personal…?" she frowned at this.
Hermione looked at the bells and then looked around the room.
"May, I ask Harper a question?" Hermione asked, turning to the Eagle.
"You may," the eagle said.
"Harper, your birthday. What's the exact day?" Hermione said. They had celebrated her birthday here at Hogwarts the last few years, so Hermione knew it was in June, but they did the party whenever they were free.
"June 18," Harper said. "Right before we leave to go home. Why?"
"That makes you a Gemini," Hermione said. "And I'm a Virgo." Hermione went over to one of the bells and rung it. Then she went to a different and rung that one. Then she went to the third and rung it. Waited a moment and then rung it again. Hermione smirked at this one.
The room changed around them again. "You have completed the challenge of the bells," the eagle said.
"Did anyone get that?" Neville asked and the two siblings shook their heads.
Now they seemed to be back in a dungeon with a small window above. Nearby was a familiar statue to Hermione – she saw it every day in the common room: Rowena Ravenclaw. Harper even recognized it from the times Hogwarts had taken on her form in her dreams. There was a slight difference though, as the tiara on her head, known as a diadem, seemed too real and not part of the statue, and there was a familiar dagger in her outstretched hand. Harper instinctively went to feel for her dagger, to find she still had it on her. This was just a copy, part of the task itself.
"To solve this riddle, the answer lies in sunlight," the Eagle stated simply, confusing Hermione as she paused to think this one over.
Looking away from the statue, she could see something on the dusty floor and moved over to crouch by it. "A map… it's unclear…" Hermione voiced, tracing it with her finger. "It leads over here…" she moved closer to where the opening on the wall was, where the sun seemed to be shining through. "Oh," there was something in the floor – and as she reached for it, a podium seemed to rise from the floor on her touch. It didn't go too high though.
"The answer lies in the sunlight?" Hermione looked back to the window, noticing the diadem was glinting in the light. "I wonder…?" she moved over and took the diadem from the statue. Moving back over to the podium, she put the diadem on top but it didn't hold and wasn't quite high enough for the sun to shine through the gems upon the item. Pausing to herself, she looked back to the statue and realized something.
"Of course!" Hermione stated, moving back over to the statue, she took the dagger from its grasp and noticed that the blade would fit perfectly into the podium. Running back, she put the dagger into the podium and, placing the diadem on top, it seemed like a magnetic connection as the two seemed to attach to one another.
Now high enough, the sunlight shone through the diadem and directly onto the map engraved onto the floor, the lines instantly glowing and, for a moment, a map of Hogwarts itself seemed to shine brightly on the floor before the task, like the others, faded from existence.
Now though Harper and Neville were suddenly shocked as Harry was no longer near them, but inside some type of clear tube. He was banging on the wall of the tube, with two buttons on the floor and two large metal soldiers on either side of the tube.
"To save your friend you must push a button – one will release him, the other will not. Before you are two guardians; one always tells the truth, and one always lies. You may ask one question of one," the eagle said.
"Why did they choose Harry?" Neville asked, but Hermione was staring for a moment, shocked.
"Wow, you are oblivious," Harper rolled her eyes and Neville turned to her. "It's okay, they are too," Neville raised an eyebrow and then a look of understanding came across his face.
"Okay, okay," Hermione said looking at the challenge after freaking out.
"Hermione, take a deep breath and use your logic. Who are you asking what question?" Harry asked.
"If I asked the wrong Guardian which button to push, I will push the wrong button and not get the key. But there's only a 50 percent chance of choosing the right Guardian," Hermione mused, looking at both up and down to see if there was any clue which one was the truth teller. Both were exactly the same though.
"There has to be a way to make sure, no matter who I ask, I discover the right button," Hermione said pacing back and forth. "A question no matter what…" Hermione paused in her pacing and then looked at a Guardian.
"Hey," Hermione said to one of the Guardians. "If I asked your friend what button to push, which would he tell me?" The arm of the knight moved and pointed at one of the buttons.
"I see," Hermione mused. "So if you're the truth guardian, that must be the false button – but if you're the automatic liar, you'd be trying to mislead me, so that still must be the wrong button. Therefore, this must be the one we want," Hermione smirked as she moved forward and pushed the other button.
A door opened in the container Harry was in and Harry was allowed out.
"Nice one, Mione!" Harry said as the room changed again to how it was when they first entered; except, only a case with the Ravenclaw key was there.
"You have shown you're as smart and clever as Rowena Ravenclaw herself. The Key is yours," the Eagle said as the case opened and Hermione went to take it – it was a blue key this time shaped as an eagle, compared to Harrys, which was red and lion-shaped, and Neville's, which was yellow and badger-shaped.
Hermione put it on her person, Harper and Neville moving forwards as the four friends went to leave the room. When they were back in the corridor, the door disappeared behind them.
"Well… that was weird," Neville said.
"We got three keys," Harry said, putting an arm around Hermione. "One left."
"Let's see what the Vault book says," Hermione said, taking it out and turning to the page they were up to. "Slytherin's tasks will begin next year – enjoy the rest of school and don't forget to save Buckbeak," the four chuckled as they put the book away.
"Hey, could you explain a bit of what that was? I mean, I don't think I will get the first or third task, but what about the bells and the last one with Harry?" Neville asked.
"The bells were us. I was born first, so rang the Virgo sign first, Harper second so rang her bell; reason I asked her for her birth date exactly. You two are born within days of each other and are the same sign, so rang the Leo bell twice," Hermione said. "As for the last task, I asked the Guardian which button the other Guardian would tell me to push. If I asked the one who told the truth, he'd tell the truth and point at the wrong button. If I asked the one who lied, he would lie and point at the wrong button. No matter who I asked, I had to do the opposite."
"That's why she's our genius," Harry said as he and Hermione walked a bit ahead of them.
"Bet you five gallons they are together before Year 5," Harper said to Neville.
"I'll take that bet," Neville said with a nod and the two caught up with their friends.
"You know, this is weird," Harper said, making all three look to her. "We got the key but there is no life-threatening emergency we have to do during or after. Plus, we're not being sent to Dumbledore's office to spend the night talking to portraits and petting Fawkes – and he still owes us teaching us to conjure a bed."
"You're right, Dumbledore doesn't know we have the key," Harry said and the four paused, giving each other a smirk and then changed directions. They were soon at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. It took a minute of guessing passwords, since Dumbledore had changed it since they were last here, but they were soon allowed in.
When they went up the stairs and into the main office, they stopped because the two Flamels were in the office as well.
"Four of our apprentices, come in," Nicholas said, seeing them at the door. "We were just telling Albus we would be taking Susan off of school grounds today – to really ward, she needs to get away from Hogwarts own protections. This is her chance to show us how much she has learned. Our test for her."
"And what are you doing?" Albus asked. "Dobby is off hanging your posters."
The four weren't sure why they were surprised Albus knew that, but Hermione held up the key around her neck. Albus stood up, shocked, and went over to it, taking it in.
"Three keys…" Albus mumbled. "You're almost there."
"After all these years," Perenelle said. "And we're going to miss the opening by just that." Knowing the students had three out of four keys, she knew she and Nicolas would be gone by the time they got the fourth key.
"Ah well, we can't see everything," Nicholas reasoned. "We better go collect Susan. You four be ready. You're working up to your tests with us as well." The two Flamels left at this.
"Well then, tell me about the tasks," Albus said, and Hermione happily told him about the riddles she had solved – from the runes to the bells, to the map and the buttons. "Well I am glad this task was not as dramatic as your others," Harper gave a smirk, since she had pointed out the same thing earlier. "And I believe I still owe you a lesson regarding conjuring a bed. Care to learn?"
"Yes," all four said together.
-Harry Potter-
Nicholas and Perenelle had brought Susan out of the school grounds and apparated with her, appearing on a cliffside, overlooking calm seas.
"Whose house is this?" Susan asked, looking at the small house on the cliffs.
"Ours," Nicholas said.
"One of them. I imagine you have many," Susan reasoned.
"We did but preparing for our deaths we have sold everything but this one – and moved everything we wish for one person to inherit here," Perenelle said. "And now we want you to place ward over the place for us."
"You have looked over the warding I gave you?" Nicholas asked.
"Yes, but it's not in any of the books," Susan said.
"Because we made it ourselves," Nicholas reasoned. "Let's start."
-Harry Potter-
That night, Harry was on his bed. After Albus Dumbledore had taught them the promised lesson and they had managed to master it, the four had continued organizing their save Buckbeak and free Hagrid movement. Now though, it was time for sleep after their very interesting day.
"Hey Harry," Dean sat at the foot of his bed. "I was a wondering something. You and Hermione are just friends, right?"
"Yeah," Harry said with a nod. "Why?"
"I was thinking of asking her to the next Hogsmeade weekend… as in a date," Dean said. "But if it would be weird…"
"Um… no… not at all. I have a girlfriend," Harry said, not sure how he felt about this. It had come out of the blue from Dean – Harry didn't even know his friend liked Hermione like that. "No, you should… You should ask her," Harry wasn't sure why he was being so weird or the feeling in the pit of his stomach now.
"Okay, thanks," Dean said, moving off to his bed as Harry decided to get some sleep. It was hard to sleep after that, with his mind tossing and turning as much as he was in bed, but he must have drifted off eventually as he soon found himself with Godric Gryffindor again.
"I could use something to punch," Harry said to the man, but was shocked as Godric brought him into a hug.
"Three keys, no one has gotten three keys before!" Godric said and Harry had to smile. "You're almost there, young heir. But everything falls to your sister now."
"Might as well give us the key now. Harper won't let anything get in her way," Harry reasoned.
"The Slytherin tasks will definitely test Harper," Godric said. "But yes, things to punch for your confused heart."
"I didn't…" Harry wasn't sure why Godric had said this, or why he really wanted something to punch, but he needed to right now.
-Harry Potter-
Harper sat on her bed and looked at Daisy.
"You know, I don't like the fact you're leaving Slytherin dorms lately," Harper said to her feline, wondering where her cat had been going. She remembered what Hogwarts had told her though: trust the animals.
Harper took a small piece of paper and wondered what to write on it – just in case someone else other than who Harper really thought got Daisy, she didn't want it to be too obvious. She merely wrote 'we know you're innocent'. If asked, she could always say she thought Daisy was going to Hagrid's hut and wanted to reassure him they were with him hundred percent.
Harper put the paper around Daisy's collar and then settled down to go to bed.
Unlike her brother, sleep came easily as when she slept, Rowena Ravenclaw was in front of her.
"Hogwarts," Harper smirked. "Come to congratulate?"
"Yes," Hogwarts-as-Rowena said. "And to tell you the room where the tasks took place is a lot more than just that. It is the Room of Requirement – or as the House Elves call it, the Come-and-Go-Room. It can become anything a person requires."
"Anything?" Harper asked.
"Want to not have to sneak out to swim in the lake when the weather is warm enough?" Hogwarts asked and Harper actually blushed, not sure why. Students weren't supposed to swim in the lake, but Harper loved to swim – she had been very sneaky in doing it. Not even Harry, Hermione, and Neville knew. Of course, Hogwarts would. "Walk outside the door three times and think you want a swimming pool. The room will become an Olympic-size swimming pool for you. Or it could become the lake itself if you so require."
"And I am assuming it can do much more than that?" Harper asked.
"So, much more. Anything you want," Hogwarts said. "If you ask for the right thing, you might just find something you didn't know you would want. Something that by birth right belongs to you and Harry and something that has been corrupted by the darkest magic."
"Dark magic?" Harper asked.
"You will learn in time," Hogwarts said. "But tomorrow..." An idea was coming to Hogwarts, Harper was sure. "Go back to the room. Walk back and forth three, times asking for the room of Jaiden Blu."
"Jaiden Blu?" Harper asked.
"You will find out tomorrow," Hogwarts smirked, and Harper knew better then to push. "Sirius Black is still chasing his rat who is hiding in the walls?" Hogwarts asked, and Harper gave a nod. "And I think I know who can help you with reaching more Ravenclaws to join the movement you are creating."
"Oh?" Harper asked.
"Penny Heywood was very popular when she was in the school. The oldest students still remember her, and her little sister is currently a 6th year and has some friends in all houses. They will be helpful, even though their houses are Hufflepuff," Hogwarts explained, and Harper nodded as she knew what needed to be done.
-Harry Potter-
Sirius Black was in his dog form when the cat that had been coming to him lately showed up – the cat often stole food and brought it to Sirius and Sirius had to be thankful.
As Sirius transformed to human form and took the food, he noticed a piece of paper on the collar. Taking the note Sirius read: 'we know you're innocent'.
"Who exactly do you belong to…?" Sirius asked the cat, but the cat ran off back towards the castle and Sirius transformed back into a dog, wondering if that note was really meant for him.
-Harry Potter-
The next day, Harper used her free period to return to the wall across from the tapestry of trolls beating up their dance teacher. She walked back and forth the three times asking for the room of Jaiden Blu. The door appeared, like it did the day before, and Harper walked in.
The room was large now and appeared to be lit by moonlight. There was a main room with what looked like glass entrances to other rooms shooting off, there was a large statue of Threstrals in front of her but it looked old, disused and even overrun by planting in some cases.
Despite the overrun planting, there were dead decayed plants in what looked like a herbology section to the left; potion pots that were long since abandoned and rusty with dried up potions inside. There were a lot of books on an old bookcase, and old desks with papers and an open book on it. Harper went to pick up the large book.
"It's old, but good," a voice spoke making Harper jumped, and she turned to see a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, much like the one from Hermione's Ravenclaw task. "It's good to talk to you not in your dreams."
"Hogwarts?" Harper asked.
"Inside the Room I can make a voice. It's not as good as your dreams. I am confined to the statue, but it's something," Hogwarts said. "I see you found Jaiden's field guide. Useful little thing they gave him."
"Who was Jaiden Blu?" Harper asked.
"A student of Ravenclaw House from over a hundred years ago," Hogwarts said. "He entered Hogwarts in his 5th year and made this room to help him study and catch up. He only returned to the school a handful of times after graduating, to see to the room. The house elf, Deek, kept the room in shape after Jaiden's death. Luckily, though, he planted enough plants and food in the Viviarium for the animals."
"Yeah… wait, animals?" Harper asked, having been looking at the field guide.
"Through those doors over there," Hogwarts' stone eyes pointed towards the glass doors in the far back. "Poaching was a problem here a hundred years ago, so he brought several species here. They have breed and survived in the room over the hundred years."
"Harry will love that," Harper said, taking the long walk towards the back and peering through the open door: it looked like one of Newt's trunks, almost. The grass and vegetation were overgrown, but Harper could see a couple of Hippogriffs nearby – part of her wondering if she should just go steal Buckbeak and put him in here.
Harper moved away from this Vivarium and turned back towards the statue. "This room will be perfect for the four of us," Harper said. "But it needs fixing up first..." Harper wanted to surprise her friends with it. "Maybe Cedric will help me? We can do some training here while we fix it up. And I am sure Dobby…" Harper didn't finish her sentence as the House Elf appeared before her with a little 'pop'. "How did you do that?"
"Dobby has been keeping an ear out to see if Master Harry or Mistress Harper needed me," Dobby explained, and Harper blinked. "This place needs cleaning! Dobby will get to work."
"Can you start on the Vivarium and take a count of the animals inside?" Harper asked pointing towards where the animals were.
"There are four Vivariums of different environment, Dobby," the Statue of Rowena stated, causing the House Elf to pause at the talking statue but then shrug to himself.
"Dobby is on it," Dobby said, rushing towards where Harper had pointed.
Harper turned back to the statue Hogwarts was using to speak. The statue seeming amused. "So, what about that pool?" Harper asked.
"You can add that room here," Hogwarts said. "Concentrate on what you want…" Harper thought of a large pool room and the room started to shake. A hallway formed to the left and there was a door; Harper went to open the door and smiled at the large Olympic size pool it had created. She would like this room.
Post Chapter Note 1: I hope you enjoyed it. I added a bit of Hogwarts Legacy with the Room of Requirement. Since the game is a hundred years before where we are, its hard to include more but this was a nice little way to include it – this time using my Beta's character from the game, Jaiden Blu as MC from Hogwarts Mystery is basically my character.
Post Chapter Note 2: Romance! Yes, we know people come here expecting this to be Harry/Hermione from the start – but like all romance that actually last, we want this to be a slow burn with both parties having their own relationships before finding love with one another. For Harry he has Enola, as mentioned in prior chapters, while here is the start of Hermione and Dean. Again, this won't last long as Harry/Hermione are endgame, but we wanted Hermione to have a relationship before Harry.
Karry Master OUT!